Stay
by midwestgirl10
Summary: Takes place in the hospital directly after Barlow shoots Branch. Walt/Vic pairing.
1. Chapter 1

_**This may be a one shot, might be the beginnings of another story, I haven't decided yet. As you can see, I'm a little stumped on the 'Moments' and haven't posted in awhile. I've had this idea running around in my head but I couldn't really work it into one of the 'Moments,' so here ya go. :)**_

* * *

As I walk through the hospital doors, I immediately have a flashback to election time when Cady was hit by that car. It doesn't really make sense, because I've been here a handful of times since then. I suppose there's more at stake when the person in the hospital is someone you know versus a murder suspect. Granted, Branch and I have never gotten along all that well, but I still don't want the asshole to die.

I make a quick stop at the front desk as I take off my sunglasses and hang them on the V-neck of my uniform.

"Excuse me, which room is Branch Connelly in?"

The woman behind the desk looks up at me and she reminds me a bit of Ruby. Her eyes grow sad as she processes my question.

"How bad is it?" I say, almost in a whisper.

"Not good," she frowns.

"Shit," I sigh.

She nods her head in agreement and points down the hall. "Around the corner and it's the first door on your right."

"Thanks."

I make my way slowly down the hall, not sure exactly what to expect when I get to his room. I peak my head in the door and two sad faces look up at me. Cady gets up immediately and meets me at the door, while Walt stays and eyes me from the chair beside Branch's bed.

"What happened with Barlow?"

"He's locked up at the station. He hasn't said a word." I pause, unsure if that's a relief to her or not. "Ferg's there now. He wanted me to come give you a hug."

She glances at Branch and then back to me as tears begin to well in her eyes. I pull her into a light hug.

"What if he doesn't wake up?" She says through a sniffle.

I pat her on the back and pull away so I can look at her. "I don't know," I answer honestly. I don't want to think about that right now.

"What do we know about his condition?" I look at Cady first, and when she looks back at Branch's unmoving body, I steal a look at Walt. He eyes me carefully but doesn't say a word.

Cady clears her throat and turns back to me. "There was a lot of medical jargon that I didn't understand… but basically his body needs time to heal, so they put him in a medically induced coma." She sniffles.

I take a deep breath. "So we wait."

"We wait," she confirms quietly.

We stand in silence for a minute, but it quickly grows uncomfortable. "You guys must be hungry, can I get you anything from the cafeteria? Or some coffee?"

"That sounds like a good idea, but I'll go."

"Are you sure? I don't mind."

"No, I'll go, I need to walk around for a while." She walks over and grabs her phone from the chair where she left it and walks towards the door. "Dad, do you want anything?"

He looks up and speaks for the first time since I got here. "No thanks, Punk. I'm alright."

Cady smiles sweetly back at him, I'm sure knowing that he wasn't going to ask for anything. "I'll be back in a bit," she mutters, and then she's gone.

When she leaves the room, Walt leans back in his chair and sighs. I wait for a minute to see if he's going to speak, which of course, he doesn't.

"What happened?"

"They had to put him in a medically induced coma, he-"

"You know that's not what I mean. Why the hell did Barlow shoot Branch?"

He shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders at the same time, but says nothing. I've known Walt long enough to know that he's not telling me everything right now. I walk behind him to the other side of the room, giving him a little bit of space as I pace back and forth.

After a minute of silence, I try again. "What did Branch tell you, Walt?"

It takes him a few moments to answer. "That he was sorry."

"For the whole David Ridges thing?" I continue to pace.

"No, uh… he apologized for Barlow." He stops talking but I can tell that he's not finished. I don't say anything and wait for him to continue.

"Barlow arranged for Martha's murder. He was behind the whole thing."

I stop in my tracks and look back at him, but he's not looking at me. "Shit."

He shifts uncomfortably in his chair.

"Are you sure you trust Branch? His mind hasn't exactly been stable lately. Did he say how he found out?"

"No. He lost so much blood by that point, he was falling in and out of consciousness. He just kept saying he was sorry." He leans forward and rubs his face with his hands.

I stand there in silence for a couple of minutes, not knowing what to say. Is there even anything that I can say?

I gravitate towards him and stand behind his chair. He's leaning forward in the chair, with his face resting in his hands. He can't see me but I think he can sense that I'm behind him now. He shifts his body slightly just before I reach out and rest my hands on his shoulders.

We stay like this for a few minutes, and I'm thinking about breaking the silence when Walt clears his throat, which makes me think he's uncomfortable. I go to take my hands off of his shoulders and he reaches back with one hand and holds my right hand there.

"Stay," he says as he gives my hand a squeeze.

I bring my left hand back up to his other shoulder and rub it gently. "Of course."


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm here! I'm here, friends! I know I haven't written or reviewed in a while, but I've still been reading, and watching, and processing everything that happened in season 4. I know there are a lot of emotions about it so if anyone wants to discuss, feel free to PM me!**

 **I started this story and most of this chapter well before season 4, but just couldn't get anywhere. I've been in a rut with both of my current stories. (I promise I'll get around to adding more "Moments.") I'm going to try and steer this story to go more along with Season 4 so this is just a short lil transitional chapter.**

* * *

We stay like that for a few minutes, my hands on his shoulders, a comfortable yet loaded silence. I figure Cady is going to be coming back soon so I eventually move to the chair on the other side of Branch's bed.

We sit in silence, and at some point I notice that Walt is staring at me, or rather my hands. I hold my hands out in front of me and look at them myself.

"What?" I say as I glance back at him.

"You took your ring off."

"Oh. Yeah." I don't offer an explanation.

He eyes me carefully. "You were wearing it this morning."

I stifle a laugh. "You don't miss anything, do you?"

His lips curl up a little, but he doesn't exactly smile. "Nope."

He continues to stare at me, waiting for an explanation.

I sigh. "I got a call from Sean's lawyer on the way over here. We're meeting in the morning to go over the details." I look down at my hands and rub the newly naked finger. "It felt like it was time to take it off."

He nods and stays silent for a moment before he speaks. "You okay?" he asks softly.

I want to say no, because of course I'm not okay. I have nightmares about the abduction every night, and my husband's leaving me because he thinks I'm in love with you. But who knows what's going on between Walt and I when most of our conversations are filled with silence.

I glance at Branch's lifeless body, the soft beeping of the machines filing the room, and I feel a pang of guilt. Saying that I'm not okay doesn't seem right. Comparing my failing marriage to all of the other terrible shit going on around here?

I shake my head, shrugging off his question. "Yeah, I'm fine."

His eyes narrow, obviously calling bullshit on my answer, but he doesn't press the conversation further. We sit there in more silence. So. Much. Silence.

"Walt, can I ask you a question?"

He blinks a couple of times before he answers. "Go ahead."

Shifting in my seat, I take a breath and let it out. "Why did you want me to stay here?"

He stares at me for a moment before glancing at Branch's body and then back to me. "Well, I just thought that, uhh... that you would want to be here if, uhh…" he gestures towards Branch, "if Branch-"

"No," I cut him off, realizing that he misunderstood my question. "That's not what I mean. After Sean filed for divorce, you said you wanted me to stay… why?"

He locks his eyes with mine and tilts his head to the side slightly. "Well, uhh… because I didn't want you to leave."

I sigh. Classic Walt answer. "Right." I lean over and grab Walt's hat that's sitting on the end of Branch's hospital bed, place the hat over my face as I shrug down in my chair and close my eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey friends! I'm breaking the rules and uploading a little note instead of a chapter. But I figure if I tell you all that i'm going to continue this, it'll kick my but in gear to actually do it! I was addicted to Longmire for so long when the show was in limbo and then finally got picked up and we all waited patiently for the last season to come out. Then after I watched the new season and got it out my system I took a step back for a bit and then life happened and I got busy. I just recently watched the season, again with my dad over a long holiday weekend and now I'm back in Longmire mood again. So, I'm going to try and see if I can somehow bring this story back to be relevant with how this last season ended. I also need to catch up and read everyone else's stories that I've missed in the meantime, I can't wait! Stay tuned for some reviews and a new chapter soon!**


End file.
